Written by Sean McKean
After a dramatic event from lights to flag, it was home-driver Mari Boya who secured the victory. This is Boya's first ever FIA F3 victory and Formula 3's ninth different winner in just as many races.
As it unfolded
Off the start, Santiago Ramos kept the lead despite challenges from Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif. Behind them, Oliver Goethe got to a great start, moving up to fifth.
While the battles continued to play out in the mid-pack, Meguetounif was hounding his teammate for the lead by Lap 3. However, Meguetounif went late on the brakes and collided with his Trident teammate in Turn 1 – putting both out of the race with punctures.
On top of the incident involving the Tridents, another contact between Callum Voisin and Nikita Bedrin left both cars stuck in the Turn 1 gravel as well. Subsequently, the safety car came out to clear the track.
Following all of these incidents, the top three were now Mari Boya, Alex Dunne, and Oliver Goethe.
The race resumed on Lap 8. Boya remained initially unchallenged for the lead, but his teammate, Sebastian Montoya, continued his march through the field – having made his way to 14th after starting 27th.
With the help of DRS though, Alex Dunne and Goethe began to pressure Boya. On top of that, Martinius Stenshorne in fourth started lapping faster than the top three, possibly putting himself in the conversation for victory.
By lap 17, however, the race was in the hands of Boya and Dunne. As for Goethe, he started to fall out of DRS range and into the clutches of Stenshorne behind him.
The complexion of the race changed on Lap 18 with a collision between the hard-charging Sebastian Montoya and championship leader Gabriele Minì. After trying to make the inside work in Turn 4, the Alpine junior’s line was compromised for the next corner, so he lost control and slammed into the side of Montoya on entry. This incident brought out the safety car with only four laps remaining.
The race would end under safety car. Mari Boya went on to take his maiden F3 win followed by Alex Dunne with his maiden podium. Oliver Goethe kept ahead of Stenshorne in fourth to take the podium. Rounding out the top five was Laurens van Hoepen.
Noel León quietly took good points in sixth. Leonardo Fornaroli helped his championship assault in seventh followed by Dino Beganovic. His teammate Arvid Lindblad finished ninth. Rounding out the top ten was Tim Tramnitz.
It is important to note that at least 10 drivers will be investigated post-race for false starts, including Alex Dunne.
Provisional Classification:
Mari Boya (Campos Racing)
Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport)
Oliver Goethe (Campos Racing)
Martinius Stenshorne (Hitech GP)
Laurens van Hoepen (ART Grand Prix)
Noel León (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) [FL]
Dino Beganovic (Prema Racing)
Arvid Lindblad (Prema Racing)
Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport)
Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix)
Luke Browning (Hitech GP)
Nikola Tsolov (ART Grand Prix)
Cian Shields (Hitech GP)
Joseph Loake (Rodin Motorsport)
Charlie Wurz (Jenzer Motorsport)
Joshua Dufek (AIX Racing)
Tommy Smith (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Matías Zagazeta (Jenzer Motorsport)
Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Santiago Ramos (Trident)
Max Esterson (Jenzer Motorsport)
Kacper Sztuka (MP Motorsport)
Piotr Wiśnicki (Rodin Motorsport)
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (AIX Racing)
Gabriele Minì (Prema Racing) [DNF]
Sebastian Montoya (Campos Racing) [DNF]
Sami Meguetounif (Trident) [DNF]
Callum Voisin (Rodin Motorsport) [DNF]
Nikita Bedrin (AIX Racing) [DNF]
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